


Deadname

by actualkit



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, POV Andrew Minyard, Post-Canon, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 21:16:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14839311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actualkit/pseuds/actualkit
Summary: Andrew goes with Neil to Baltimore.





	Deadname

Andrew was under the impression that Neil would never set foot in Baltimore ever again.

He certainly wouldn’t mind avoiding this place for the rest of his life. As it would seem, however, Neil still had the element of surprise down to an art.

God, how it made Andrew want to burn something.

The two of them had taken turns driving up, now Neil was behind the wheel and refusing to tell Andrew where he was taking him.

“We both know you’re not here for nostalgia,” he said with his cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, “so, what gives?”

“You’ll see” said Neil.

He hadn’t looked at Andrew since they'd crossed over the boarder into Maryland, as though if he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from giving up whatever he was keeping from Andrew.

“Do I at least get to know how much longer until we arrive?” 

He never should have agreed to this. As soon as Neil had asked, he should've put his foot down and told that junkie bastard he was mad for even entertaining the thought that he would agree to something like this.

Alas, Andrew had bent like a coat hanger.

Neil’s hands gripped the steering wheel hard enough for his knuckles to pale. His eyes were flooded simultaneously with terror and determination. 

“Only about half an hour to go" he told Andrew, coolly.

Perhaps, thought Andrew, Neil will come to his senses and turn back. He knew that was a stupid thing to think. Neil was as reckless as he was stubborn. 

He sighed a cloud of smoke that quickly filled the front seats and gazed out of his passenger window. He paid no attention to any details of the landscape passing by, they were worth nothing. If he was ever dragged here again, he decided he would simply burn it all to the ground.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Neil turned off the engine; without a word, he unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out. Andrew wasted no time in following.

The cemetery gate gave a shrill scream as Neil pulled it open, making him flinch.

“Are you finally going to explain what the hell you are doing?” asked Andrew.

“I have something to show you" Neil replied, and slipped inside.

“It better be worth coming all this way, or you will become the newest resident.”

Finally, Neil looked at him. He was still afraid, Andrew could see it written all over his stupid face. Yet, Neil's hands were still, and he smiled genuinely.

“Just you wait" he promised.

Andrew was bored of waiting. As soon as Neil had showed him whatever he had brought him here to see, he'd haul his ass back to Columbia where he belonged.

They closed the gate behind them, and Andrew let Neil lead him to the farthest side of the graveyard.

A place like this wasn’t anything new to Andrew. He had sometimes caved and went with Aaron to visit their mother. They never brought flowers. They never said anything. Andrew always stood to the side while his brother knelt before her stone. 

The dead wouldn’t know if you visited them or not; Andrew was more than happy to have his ashes left wherever the one stuck with them saw fit. It was no difference to him; he made that clear to anyone who might need to know.

Neil stopped abruptly. He said nothing, but gestured casually with one hand.  
Andrew stepped past him, and looked down at the gravestone. The name engraved at the top sent a jolt down his spine:

 **WESNINSKI**.

“What do I need to see this for?” he frowned.

From behind him, Neil was insistent as he replied: “read it.”

Andrew pulled his cigarette from his lips and snuffed it out on the name before him, then let his eyes skim downwards.

They both knew Nathan was dead, there was no need for Neil to prove it, especially not like this.

Then, Andrew saw it, before he could give in to his desire to kick the thing over.

The Butcher's name wasn’t the only one engraved. There was one more: the name of his son.

Andrew turned to look back at Neil, only to find he was no longer standing. Instead, he had taken a knee.

“I did what you said,” Neil murmured, looking up into Andrew's eyes “I’ve left Nathaniel buried here with his father... he won’t run, anymore.”

The penny dropped.

The thought had crossed Andrew's mind many times, but he had always bullied himself into believing Neil was as solid as smoke, that the only permanent thing about him were the scars that marked him as both a runaway and a would-be martyr.

“If Nathaniel was the one who ran,” Andrew found himself saying, “then which one are you?”

He had barely blinked since he and Neil locked eyes, almost as though he was sure Neil would vanish instantly if he did.

Neil took a deep breath. “The one who stays with you. If you'll have me.”

And just like that, yet another word in the English language became Andrew's least favourite.

“If?” he said after a moment, the taste of it burning his mouth. “I should never have trusted you to know anything, Josten.”

Before Neil could say anything else, Andrew let himself fall to his knees in front of him and pressed his lips against Neil's mouth.

Unbelievable. This fucking moron had driven him over five-hundred miles back to the one place they should’ve never returned, just so he could ask the question he should already know the answer to.

Neil shifted so that he was down on both knees and kissed back, breath hot against their faces.

Andrew pulled back so he could look Neil in the eyes again.

“You said it yourself, idiot,” Andrew hissed, “it’s always yes with you. Get it through your thick skull.”

Something wet slid down Andrew's cheeks. He glanced up at the sky, but there wasn’t a cloud in sight. 

Neil reached out and gently cradled his face with both hands. 

Andrew's mind had never been so quiet.

“You’re always going to be this much of a problem, aren’t you?” he sighed.

Neil’s smile was warmer than August. “Till death do us part.”


End file.
